New Vice-President’s Enclave finally ready, old residence to make way for office complex

New Vice-President’s Enclave finally ready, old residence to make way for office complex

New Delhi: After missing several deadlines, the new Vice-President’s Enclave, which is a part of the Narendra Modi government’s ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project, is ready to welcome its high-profile occupant, ThePrint has learnt.

The Vice-President’s Secretariat Wednesday started moving to the new complex located adjacent to the North Block. The enclave comprises the residence and office of the vice-president.

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and his wife held a puja at the new house Wednesday.

“On the auspicious occasion of Basant Panchami, a puja was held at the new house. There are some minor works which are being carried out. The vice-president is expected to shift to the new house soon. But the process to move the secretariat to the new building has started,” said a senior official of the Vice-President’s Secretariat.

The Central Public Works Department (CPWD), the construction arm of the central government under the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, completed the construction work in January, according to senior ministry officials.

Spread over 15 acres of land, the new enclave includes a single-storey (ground plus one with a basement) residence, a single-storey secretariat building, a guest house, sports facility, staff quarters and ancillary buildings, according to senior government officials.

The total built-up area is around 20,000 square metres.

The project had been delayed over a year. The construction work, which started in January 2022, was expected to be completed within 10 months of award of work, according to a senior CPWD official. Jharkhand-based Kamladityya Construction Pvt. Ltd. (KCPL) was awarded the project in November 2021.

The Rs 214-crore enclave is the third project to be completed as part of the approximately Rs 13,500 crore Central Vista project after Central Vista Avenue and New Parliament House, both inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2022 and May 2023, respectively.

As part of the Central Vista redevelopment project, the Modi government has planned an Executive Enclave, which will house the PMO and other important offices, 10 Common Central Secretariat (CCS) buildings (to house all ministries) and the Prime Minister’s residence. The Executive Enclave and three CCS buildings are expected to be ready by the end of this year, according to CPWD officials.

Office complex at old site

Once the secretariat shifts to the new complex, the V-P house at 6, Maulana Azad Road, is proposed to be razed to pave way for the construction of new government offices, said a senior ministry official.

As part of the Central Vista redevelopment project, the Modi government plans to construct a Common Central Secretariat that will have a set of 10 buildings on either side of the Kartavya Path, formerly known as Rajpath.

While the first set of three CCS buildings is expected to be completed by the end of this year, work on the remaining buildings is yet to start. The remaining CCS buildings are proposed to come up after the demolition of some of the existing government office buildings such as Nirman Bhawan and Shastri Bhawan.

Construction of another CCS building is expected to begin soon, according to a CPWD official. In September last year, the CPWD invited bids for the construction of CCS-13 building at a cost of Rs 576 crore, which is proposed to come up where the Raksha Bhawan building is located.

“The work is likely to start soon as it was awarded last month,” said a senior CPWD official.

The Raksha Bhawan, which has residential accommodation for officers at the National Defence College, will shift to the newly constructed building at Kasturba Gandhi Marg, said a CPWD official.

(Edited by Tony Rai)